Greater Anglia passengers have become significantly less satisfied with their journeys over the last 12 months according to new figures from the rail watchdog Transport Focus.

There has been a 10% fall in the number of people satisfied with the punctuality and reliability of Greater Anglia services, though overall most passengers are happy. Picture: Neil Perry

However the train company says that the figures showing an 8% fall in passenger satisfaction do not reflect the situation on its lines in Norfolk – it says they are distorted by problems on its route between London and Cambridge.

According to Passenger Focus, only 73% of passengers were satisfied with their journeys on Greater Anglia, joint third worst of all operators, when it conducted its survey in the autumn – the previous year the figure had been 81%.

However Greater Anglia said that in the detailed figures, which are not published in the report, the passenger satisfaction with its rural services in Norfolk, including between Norwich and Sheringham, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft was 82%.

While on InterCity trains on the Great Eastern Main Line between Norwich and London it also remained higher than the national average (81%).

A spokesman said the figures showed that passengers in Norfolk were significantly happier with services than on the Cambridge to London line where trains are hampered by restrictions on the outskirts of the capital that Network Rail is addressing.

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director said: “We are working on a number of initiatives, with Network Rail, to improve customer satisfaction across the network, including responding faster to disruptive incidents and we’re improving the reliability of our old trains.

Passenger satisfaction with Greater Anglia services in Norfolk is above the national average. Picture: Neil Perry

“We’re also modernising the railway in East Anglia, replacing all of our existing trains with brand new state-of-the-art trains, new services and unprecedented levels of investment in stations, car parks, depots and ticket facilities, while Network Rail is investing millions of pounds in railway infrastructure upgrades across the network.”

The capacity restrictions affecting Cambridge services has also affected King’s Lynn to King’s Cross services run by Great Northern, which had the poorest overall passenger satisfaction in the survey, falling 9%.

East Midlands Trains, which runs the Norwich to Liverpool service that stops at Wymondham, Attleborough and Thetford, as well as Peterborough, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester, had an overall passenger satisfaction of 84%.

“Passenger frustration at continual fare increases saps confidence in the system to reform itself. A better value for money and more reliable railway must arrive soon for passengers.”

Other findings from the survey was a 10% fall in the number of people satisfied with the punctuality and reliability of Greater Anglia services, and a 6% fall in the number of people who felt they had got value for money for the price of their Greater Anglia ticket.